Improvement in projectiles for rifled ordnance



B. B. HOTCHKISS.

Projectile.

No. 29,272. -Patented July 24, 1860.

@5W UNMENTLER 4 wmwlss nire STATES arena* *FFICEG ll. D. HOTGHKISS, OFSHARON, CONNEC'IICUT.

.jnsciicalion Vorming part ol' Leiters Patent i\`o. 29,2?1?. dnlrd .lnlyfil, lrUL same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings,Aforming a tion.

My improvement relates to and is an improvement on the construction orlprojectiles invented by my brother, Andrew Hotchkiss, and patented byhim on the 16th of October, 1855.

The nature ot' my invention consists in the employment of a body andsoft-metal belt of a peculiar form, in combination with the eappicce forcontrolling the extent of the action 011 the belt, the object of thisncombination being the expansion of the forward part ofthe belt, equallyor nearly equally with the back part, and at the same time insuringthatthe expansion shall not exceed a certain moderate amount.

The nature of my invention also consists in causing the cap or wedgepiece to be forced into the metal of the packing or belt between itsinner and outer surfaces, in lieu of between it and the body of theprojectile, for the purpose of holding the rear edge of the belt moreiirmly to the shot and preventing it from bcing torn therefrom iniiring.

The nature of my invention also consists in a combination of a lip tohold or coniine the forward edge of the belt with the above peculiarmeans of holding the rear edge of the same, for the purpose of holdingthe portion of the belt to the shot in case the belt is separated,longitudinally, in two or more parts.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I willproceed to describe its construction and operation, by the aid oftheaccompanying drawings, in which- Figure l is a half-elevation andhalf-section ot the projectile as placed in the cannon. Fig. 2 is asimilar view with the packing-ring expanded, and Fig. 3 is a rear viewwith the cappiece removed.

Similar letters indicate like parts in all the figures.

part of this specifica- A is the body of the projectile, made in aconvenient form at the point and rear, but smaller 'for a little morethan halfits length, to allow for the packing or belt of soft metal.rIhe forward portion of that' part of the body of the projectile whichis encompassed by the belt, is tapered toward the rear, as shown at B.The rear portionis of uniform section. At C is an annular lip orprojection which stands in the edge of the belt or packing, asrepresented. Upon A, I iit the packing or ring D, composed of lead, orother suitable soft metal,

at G, under which is placed the cap or wedgepiece F, which is drivenhome with a ham'mer with sufficient force to induce it to remain andallow the projectile to be handled inthe ordi-v nary manner withoutdanger of a separation. The projectile is placed in the gun in thiscondition, as shown in Fig. l, with the cap F next the powder. In firingthe gun the force of the explosion is received by the cap F, which isthereby forced with great violence against and into the lead 01soft-metal ring D, the adhesion of which to the bodyAB is very slight,so that it is free to slip forward thereon, the

driving forward the belt D uniformly, or nearly so, but only to theextent due to the motion of F. rlhis expansion of both ends of D followsfrom the form of the several parts, as follows: The sharp edge of thecap F is driven into the rear edge of the belt D until the shoulder fmeets the same. The mass of D is then compressed and changed in forni,being ups'et-77 as v the change is termed, or, in other words, shortenedand thickened. The mass of D is also moved forward by the same forceupon A.. By the form due to my invenytion the upper or forward portionot' Dis the thinnest and is most easily compressed, so that the hinderand central portions move forward, and the tapering form of B andgreater upsetting of that part oi' D expands the forward portion in sucha manner as to cause it also to fit the bore and grooves of the gun. Thebelt under these conditions expands equally and to the proper extent atboth ends and also at the middle, and D iits tightly to the gunthroughout its whole extent, as shown in Fig. 2. The

with a'flan ge or projection on its rear, as sh own force of theexplosion both compressing and edge C and the wedgeF cut into the met-alotv the ring, and tend to prevent the latter from bel coming removedfrom the body of the shot, either in the gun or after it has leftthemuzzle.

The belt of soft meta-l has hitherto been held to the body oftheprojectile only by its maintaining its integrity as a complete belt orhoop, and so soon as it is separated into two or more parts, it wouldfly asunder under the resistance of the air upon its front edge. By myimprovement the soft metal loeks under a portion ofthe body at itsforward edge and under :t portion of the cap at its rear edge, so thatif it were split into mzmyparts or sections, each extending the entirelength from F to C, none of the partsould escape from the body of theshot, but the whole would remain in one single proj eetle.

Having now fully described my invention, what I claim ns new therein,and desire to secure by Letters Patent, isa

1. The tapering body B andthe Correspond ing form of the belt D, incombination with the cap-piece F f, or its equivalent, for the purposeof expanding Dequztlly and to zt definitelycontrolled extent at eachend, substantially as herein set forth.

2. Causing the edge of the eztp F to embrace a portion of the belt D, soas to look and coniine D at that edge, substantially as and for thepurposes herein shown and specified.

3. The combination of the lip C at the forward edge with the meansherein described of confining the rear edge of the belt D, for thepurpose of retaining the parts of the lat-ter between them when burstopen or otherwise friletured, as herein set forth.

B. B. HOTCHKI'SS.

\V it n esses:

THOMAS D. SfrE'rsoN, G. H. BABoocK.

